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The Occult

August 13, 2024, 8:41 am
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 For other uses, see Occult (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Cult.
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The occult (from Latin: occultus, lit. 'hidden' or 'secret') is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysticism. It can also refer to paranormal ideas such as extra-sensory perception and parapsychology.

The term occult sciences was used in 16th-century Europe to refer to astrology, alchemy, and natural magic. The term occultism emerged in 19th-century France,[1] among figures such as Antoine Court de Gébelin.[2] It came to be associated with various French esoteric groups connected to Éliphas Lévi and Papus, and in 1875 was introduced into the English language by the esotericist Helena Blavatsky.

Throughout the 20th century, the term 'occult' was used idiosyncratically by a range of different authors. By the 21st century the term 'occultism' was commonly employed –including by academic scholars in the field Western esotericism studies– to refer to a range of esoteric currents that developed in the mid-19th century and their descendants. Occultism is thus often used to categorise such esoteric traditions as Qabalah, Spiritualism, Theosophy, Anthroposophy, Wicca, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, New Age,[3] and the left-hand path and right-hand path.

Use of the term as a nominalized adjective ('the occult') has developed especially since the late twentieth century. In that same period, occult and culture were combined to form the neologism occulture.

Etymology

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The occult (from the Latin word occultus; lit. 'clandestine', 'hidden', 'secret') is "knowledge of the hidden".[4] In common usage, occult refers to "knowledge of the paranormal", as opposed to "knowledge of the measurable",[5] usually referred to as science. The terms esoteric and arcane can also be used to describe the occult,[6] in addition to their meanings unrelated to the supernatural. The term occult sciences was used in the 16th century to refer to astrology, alchemy, and natural magic.

The earliest known usage of the term occultism is in the French language, as l'occultisme. In this form it appears in A. de Lestrange's article that was published in Dictionnaire des mots nouveaux ("Dictionary of new words") by Jean-Baptiste Richard de Randonvilliers [fr] in 1842. However, it was not related, at this point, to the notion of Ésotérisme chrétien, as has been claimed by Hanegraaff,[7] but to describe a political "system of occulticity" that was directed against priests and aristocrats.[8]

In 1853, the Freemasonic author Jean-Marie Ragon had already used occultisme in his popular work Maçonnerie occulte, relating it to earlier practices that, since the Renaissance, had been termed "occult sciences" or "occult philosophy", but also to the recent socialist teachings of Charles Fourier.[9] The French esotericist Éliphas Lévi then used the term in his influential book on ritual magic, Dogme et rituel de la haute magie, first published in 1856.[10] Lévi was familiar with that work and might have borrowed the term from there. In any case, Lévi also claimed to be a representative of an older tradition of occult science or occult philosophy.[11] It was from his usage of the term occultisme that it gained wider usage;[12] according to Faivre, Lévi was "the principal exponent of esotericism in Europe and the United States" at that time.[13] The term occultism emerged in 19th-century France, where it came to be associated with various French esoteric groups connected to Éliphas Lévi and Papus,

The earliest use of the term occultism in the English language appears to be in "A Few Questions to 'Hiraf'", an 1875 article by Helena Blavatsky, a Russian émigré living in the United States who founded the religion of Theosophy. The article was published in the American Spiritualist magazine, Spiritual Scientist.[14]

Various twentieth-century writers on the subject used the term occultism in different ways. Some writers, such as the German philosopher Theodor W. Adorno in his "Theses Against Occultism", employed the term as a broad synonym for irrationality.[15] In his 1950 book L'occultisme, Robert Amadou [fr] used the term as a synonym for esotericism,[16] an approach that the later scholar of esotericism Marco Pasi suggested left the term superfluous.[15] Unlike Amadou, other writers saw occultism and esotericism as different, albeit related, phenomena. In the 1970s, the sociologist Edward A. Tiryakian distinguished between occultism, which he used in reference to practices, techniques, and procedures, and esotericism, which he defined as the religious or philosophical belief systems on which such practices are based.[16] This division was initially adopted by the early academic scholar of esotericism, Antoine Faivre, although he later abandoned it;[10] it has been rejected by most scholars who study esotericism.[15]

By the 21st century the term was commonly employed – including by academic scholars of esotericism – to refer to a range of esoteric currents that developed in the mid-19th century and their descendants. Occultism is thus often used to categorise such esoteric traditions as Spiritualism, Theosophy, Anthroposophy, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and New Age.

A different division was used by the Traditionalist author René Guénon, who used esotericism to describe what he believed was the Traditionalist, inner teaching at the heart of most religions, while occultism was used pejoratively to describe new religions and movements that he disapproved of, such as Spiritualism, Theosophy, and various secret societies.[17] Guénon's use of this terminology was adopted by later writers like Serge Hutin and Luc Benoist.[18] As noted by Hanegraaff, Guénon's use of these terms are rooted in his Traditionalist beliefs and "cannot be accepted as scholarly valid".[18]

The term occultism derives from the older term occult, much as the term esotericism derives from the older term esoteric.[11] However, the historian of esotericism Wouter Hanegraaff stated that it was important to distinguish between the meanings of the term occult and occultism.[19] Occultism is not a homogenous movement and is widely diverse.[13]

Over the course of its history, the term occultism has been used in various different ways.[20] However, in contemporary uses, occultism commonly refers to forms of esotericism that developed in the nineteenth century and their twentieth-century derivations.[18] In a descriptive sense, it has been used to describe forms of esotericism which developed in nineteenth-century France, especially in the Neo-Martinist environment.[18] According to the historian of esotericism Antoine Faivre, it is with the esotericist Éliphas Lévi that "the occultist current properly so-called" first appears.[13] Other prominent French esotericists involved in developing occultism included Papus, Stanislas de Guaita, Joséphin Péladan, Georges-Albert Puyou de Pouvourville, and Jean Bricaud.[11]

Occult sciences

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The idea of occult sciences developed in the sixteenth century.[10] The term usually encompassed three practices – astrology, alchemy, and natural magic – although sometimes various forms of divination were also included rather than being subsumed under natural magic.[10] These were grouped together because, according to the Dutch scholar of hermeticism Wouter Hanegraaff, "each one of them engaged in a systematic investigation of nature and natural processes, in the context of theoretical frameworks that relied heavily on a belief in occult qualities, virtues or forces."[10] Although there are areas of overlap between these different occult sciences, they are separate and in some cases practitioners of one would reject the others as being illegitimate.[10]

During the Age of Enlightenment, occultism increasingly came to be seen as intrinsically incompatible with the concept of science.[10] From that point on, use of "occult science(s)" implied a conscious polemic against mainstream science.[10] Nevertheless, the philosopher and card game historian Michael Dummett, whose analysis of the historical evidence suggested that fortune-telling and occult interpretations using cards were unknown before the 18th century, said that the term occult science was not misplaced because "people who believe in the possibility of unveiling the future or of exercising supernormal powers do so because the efficacy of the methods they employ coheres with some systematic conception which they hold of the way the universe functions...however flimsy its empirical basis."[21]

In his 1871 book Primitive Culture, the anthropologist Edward Tylor used the term "occult science" as a synonym for magic.[22]

Occult qualities

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Occult qualities are properties that have no known rational explanation; in the Middle Ages, for example, magnetism was considered an occult quality.[23][24] Aether is another such element.[25] Newton's contemporaries severely criticized his theory that gravity was effected through "action at a distance", as occult.[26]

Occultism

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The French esotericist Éliphas Lévi popularised the term "occultism" in the 1850s. His reinterpretation of traditional esoteric ideas has led to him being called the origin of "the occultist current properly so-called".[13]

In the English-speaking world, notable figures in the development of occultism included Helena Blavatsky and other figures associated with her Theosophical Society, senior figures in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn like William Wynn Westcott and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, as well as other individuals such as Paschal Beverly Randolph, Emma Hardinge Britten, Arthur Edward Waite, and – in the early twentieth century – Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, and Israel Regardie.[11] By the end of the nineteenth century, occultist ideas had also spread into other parts of Europe, such as the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, and the Kingdom of Italy.[27]

Unlike older forms of esotericism, occultism does not necessarily reject "scientific progress or modernity".[28] Lévi had stressed the need to solve the conflict between science and religion, something that he believed could be achieved by turning to what he thought was the ancient wisdom found in magic.[29] The French scholar of Western esotericism Antoine Faivre noted that rather than outright accepting "the triumph of scientism", occultists sought "an alternative solution", trying to integrate "scientific progress or modernity" with "a global vision that will serve to make the vacuousness of materialism more apparent".[13] The Dutch scholar of hermeticism Wouter Hanegraaff remarked that occultism was "essentially an attempt to adapt esotericism" to the "disenchanted world", a post-Enlightenment society in which growing scientific discovery had eradicated the "dimension of irreducible mystery" previously present. In doing so, he noted, occultism distanced itself from the "traditional esotericism" which accepted the premise of an "enchanted" world.[30] According to the British historian of Western esotericism Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, occultist groups typically seek "proofs and demonstrations by recourse to scientific tests or terminology".[31]

In his work about Lévi, the German historian of religion Julian Strube has argued that the occultist wish for a "synthesis" of religion, science, and philosophy directly resulted from the context of contemporary socialism and progressive Catholicism.[32] Similar to spiritualism, but in declared opposition to it, the emergence of occultism should thus be seen within the context of radical social reform, which was often concerned with establishing new forms of "scientific religion" while at the same time propagating the revival of an ancient tradition of "true religion".[33] Indeed, the emergence of both modern esotericism and socialism in July Monarchy France have been inherently intertwined.[34]

Another feature of occultists is that – unlike earlier esotericists – they often openly distanced themselves from Christianity, in some cases (like that of Crowley) even adopting explicitly anti-Christian stances.[29] This reflected how pervasive the influence of secularisation had been on all areas of European society.[29] In rejecting Christianity, these occultists sometimes turned towards pre-Christian belief systems and embraced forms of Modern Paganism, while others instead took influence from the religions of Asia, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. In various cases, certain occultists did both.[29] Another characteristic of these occultists was the emphasis that they placed on "the spiritual realization of the individual", an idea that would strongly influence the twentieth-century New Age and Human Potential Movement.[29] This spiritual realization was encouraged both through traditional Western 'occult sciences' like alchemy and ceremonial magic, but by the start of the twentieth century had also begun to include practices drawn from non-Western contexts, such as yoga.[29]

Although occultism is distinguished from earlier forms of esotericism, many occultists have also been involved in older esoteric currents. For instance, occultists like François-Charles Barlet [fr] and Rudolf Steiner were also theosophers,[a] adhering to the ideas of the early modern Lutheran thinker Jakob Bohme, and seeking to integrate ideas from Bohmian theosophy and occultism.[35] It has been noted, however, that this distancing from the Theosophical Society should be understood in the light of polemical identity formations among esotericists towards the end of the nineteenth century.[36]

Etic uses of the term

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See also: Emic and etic
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In the 1990s, the Dutch scholar Wouter Hanegraaff put forward a new definition of occultism for scholarly uses.

In the mid-1990s, a new definition of "occultism" was put forth by Wouter Hanegraaff.[37] According to Hanegraaff, the term occultism can be used not only for the nineteenth-century groups which openly self-described using that term but can also be used in reference to "the type of esotericism that they represent".[18]

Seeking to define occultism so that the term would be suitable "as an etic category" for scholars, Hanegraaff devised the following definition: "a category in the study of religions, which comprises "all attempts by esotericists to come to terms with a disenchanted world or, alternatively, by people in general to make sense of esotericism from the perspective of a disenchanted secular world".[38] Hanegraaff noted that this etic usage of the term would be independent of emic usages of the term employed by occultists and other esotericists themselves.[38]

In this definition, occultism covers many esoteric currents that have developed from the mid-nineteenth century onward, including Spiritualism, Theosophy, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and the New Age.[18] Employing this etic understanding of "occultism", Hanegraaff argued that its development could begin to be seen in the work of the Swedish esotericist Emanuel Swedenborg and in the Mesmerist movement of the eighteenth century, although added that occultism only emerged in "fully-developed form" as Spiritualism, a movement that developed in the United States during the mid-nineteenth century.[30]

Marco Pasi suggested that the use of Hanegraaff's definition might cause confusion by presenting a group of nineteenth-century esotericists who called themselves "occultists" as just one part of a broader category of esotericists whom scholars would call "occultists".[39]

Following these discussions, Julian Strube argued that Lévi and other contemporary authors who would now be regarded as esotericists developed their ideas not against the background of an esoteric tradition in the first place. Rather, Lévi's notion of occultism emerged in the context of highly influential radical socialist movements and widespread progressive, so-called neo-Catholic ideas.[40] This further complicates Hanegraaff's characteristics of occultism, since, throughout the nineteenth century, they apply to these reformist movements rather than to a supposed group of esotericists.[41]

Modern usage

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The term occult has also been used as a substantivized adjective as "the occult", a term that has been particularly widely used among journalists and sociologists.[18] This term was popularised by the publication of Colin Wilson's 1971 book The Occult.[18] This term has been used as an "intellectual waste-basket" into which a wide array of beliefs and practices have been placed because they do not fit readily into the categories of religion or science.[18] According to Hanegraaff, "the occult" is a category into which gets placed a range of beliefs from "spirits or fairies to parapsychological experiments, from UFO-abductions to Oriental mysticism, from vampire legends to channelling, and so on".[18]

Occulture

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The neologism occulture used within the industrial music scene of the late twentieth century was probably coined by one of its central figures, the musician and occultist Genesis P-Orridge.[42] The scholar of religion Christopher Partridge used the term in an academic sense, stating that occulture was "the new spiritual environment in the West; the reservoir feeding new spiritual springs; the soil in which new spiritualities are growing".[43]

Occultism and technology

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Recently scholars have offered perspectives on the occult as intertwined with media and technology. Examples include the work of film and media theorist Jeffrey Sconce and religious studies scholar John Durham Peters, both of whom suggest that occult movements historically utilize media and apparatuses as tools to reveal hidden aspects of reality or laws of nature.[44][45] Erik Davis in his book Techgnosis gives an overview of occultism both ancient and modern from the perspective of cybernetics and information technologies.[46] Philosopher Eugene Thacker discusses Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy in his book In The Dust Of This Planet, where he shows how the horror genre utilizes occult themes to reveal hidden realities.[47]

See also

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References

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Notes

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  1. ^ This theosophy, which is a Christian esoteric tradition adhered to by theosophers, is a distinct movement from Theosophy, the occultist religion adhered to by Theosophists, despite the shared name.

Citations

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  1. ^ Pasi 2006.
  2. ^ Welburn & Heinzen 1986, p. 107.
  3. ^ Stone 2014, p. 60.
  4. ^ Crabb 1927.
  5. ^ Underhill 2017, p. [page needed].
  6. ^ Wright 1895, p. [page needed].
  7. ^ Hanegraaff 2006, p. 887; Pasi 2006, p. 1364.
  8. ^ Strube 2016b, p. 445-450.
  9. ^ Strube 2016b, p. 13-14.
  10. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h Hanegraaff 2006, p. 887.
  11. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Pasi 2006, p. 1365.
  12. ^ Hanegraaff 2006, p. 887; Pasi 2006, pp. 1364–1365.
  13. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Faivre 1994, p. 88.
  14. ^ Hanegraaff 2006, p. 887; Pasi 2006, p. 1365.
  15. ^ Jump up to:a b c Pasi 2006, p. 1367.
  16. ^ Jump up to:a b Hanegraaff 2006, p. 887; Pasi 2006, p. 1367.
  17. ^ Hanegraaff 2006, pp. 887–888.
  18. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j Hanegraaff 2006, p. 888.
  19. ^ Hanegraaff 2006, p. 884.
  20. ^ Pasi 2006, p. 1364.
  21. ^ Dummett 1980, p. 93.
  22. ^ Hanegraaff 2006, p. 716.
  23. ^ Osler & Farber 2002, p. 185.
  24. ^ Henry 1986.
  25. ^ Gibbons 2018, p. 8.
  26. ^ Buchdahl 1989, p. 232.
  27. ^ Pasi 2006, pp. 1365–1366.
  28. ^ Faivre 1994, p. 88; Goodrick-Clarke 2008, p. 196.
  29. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f Pasi 2006, p. 1366.
  30. ^ Jump up to:a b Hanegraaff 1996, p. 423.
  31. ^ Goodrick-Clarke 2008, p. 196.
  32. ^ Strube 2016a.
  33. ^ Strube 2016b.
  34. ^ Strube2017b.
  35. ^ Faivre 1994, p. 89.
  36. ^ Strube 2017a.
  37. ^ Pasi 2006, pp. 1367–1368.
  38. ^ Jump up to:a b Hanegraaff 1996, p. 422.
  39. ^ Pasi 2006, p. 1368.
  40. ^ Strube 2016a, pp. 373–379.
  41. ^ Strube 2017b, pp. 218–221.
  42. ^ Partridge 2014, p. 124.
  43. ^ Partridge 2004, p. 4.
  44. ^ Sconce 2000, pp. 21ff.
  45. ^ Peters 2012, pp. 188ff.
  46. ^ Davis 2015.
  47. ^ Thacker 2011, pp. 49–97.

Works cited

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Further reading

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  • Classen, Albrecht (2017). "Magic in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age: Literature, Science, Religion, Philosophy, Music, and Art. An Introduction". In Classen, Albrecht (ed.). Magic and Magicians in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Time: The Occult in Pre-Modern Sciences, Medicine, Literature, Religion, and Astrology. Fundamentals of Medieval and Early Modern Culture. Vol. 20. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter. pp. 1–108. doi:10.1515/9783110557725-001. ISBN 9783110556070. ISSN 1864-3396.
  • Forshaw, Peter (2014). "The Occult Middle Ages". In Partridge, Christopher (ed.). The Occult World. London: Routledge. Retrieved 2022-12-13 – via Academia.edu.
  • Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (2010). "The Beginning of Occultist Kabbalah: Adolphe Franck and Eliphas Levi". Kabbalah and Modernity: Interpretations, Transformations, Adaptations. Netherlands: Brill. ISBN 978-9004182875.
  • Kontou, Tatiana; Wilburn, Sarah, eds. (2012). The Ashgate Research Companion to Nineteenth-Century Spiritualism and the Occult. Farnham: Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-6912-8.
  • Partridge, Christopher, ed. (2014). The Occult World. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415695961.
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The Transcendental Painting Group

January 18, 2025, 5:55 am
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 The aims of the artists below was to try to depict as far as possible the "existence" of spiritual/psychic dimensions..RS


Introduction

The Transcendental Painting Group was formed in Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico, between June and October 1938 by Emil Bisttram, Robert Gribbroek, Lawren Harris, Raymond Jonson, William Lumpkins, Florence Miller, Horace Towner Pierce, and Stuart Walker. Agnes Pelton was voted in as a member in absentia and Ed Garman was invited to join the group in 1941. Alfred Morang and Dane Rudhyar, important non-artist members, contributed intellectual theory and criticism to the group.

By 1939, members of the group exhibited at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco. Later that year, a portion of the group exhibits at the New York World’s Fair. Also in 1939, the group exhibited together at the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe and at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. 

In 1940, Lawren Harris returned to his native country of Canada, and Stuart Walker passed away. Important exhibitions featuring a few of the Transcendental Painting Group artists occurred in New York at the Museum of Non-Objective Painting (now known as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation) and at the Museum of Modern Art. 

The United States entered World War II at the end of 1941. By late 1942, Jonson effectively concluded the Transcendental Painting Group by asking Dane Rudhyar and Lawren Harris to sign the corporate dissolution documents. 

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I share a fascinating message critical of Gurinder Singh, with praise of Flora Wood

January 18, 2025, 6:25 am
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 Below is a message I received yesterday from someone who describes how Gurinder Singh, the current guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), created a highly negative atmosphere in the United Kingdom after he became the successor to Charan Singh, a much-beloved RSSB guru......RS.





..........The message also is filled with praise for Flora Wood, a long-time RSSB initiate, or satsangi, who wrote a book for the organization and was a positive influence in the United Kingdom's RSSB membership.

It doesn't surprise me that Gurinder Singh comes in for such criticism in this message. There's plenty of other evidence that at best, Gurinder's ethics are at odds with how previous RSSB gurus have behaved, and at worst, Gurinder has engaged in financial fraud aimed at enriching himself and his family to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Here's the message. "Sewadars" means volunteers. "Sangat" refers to the RSSB community. "Radha Soami" is a greeting used by RSSB initiates. "Haynes Park" is a large RSSB center in the United Kingdom. The "Dera" refers to the RSSB headquarters in India. "Satsang" is a talk about the RSSB teachings.



......... I submit this to you anonymously.



In 2005 Mrs Flora Wood was asked by the Dera to write a postscript to her 1965 book In 'Search Of The Way' in which she recalled her Indian experiences with The Great Master Baba Sawan Singh, as well as the history of the birth and development of the British Sangat.

When Mrs Wood's friend, a secretary to her commanding officer in the British Army in India, told her that the colonel had became a satsangi, she followed him in that respect, but only after she had persuaded him to brief her, over dinner, on the teachings and the Master.

Flora Wood, born in 1923, and an early disciple of Sawan Singh, had served as representative to three masters. No satsangi in the UK could deliver a discourse at her level of spirituality and knowledge both of Sant Mat and of the Persian mystics. Under her quiet seemingly hands-off rule the satsang was intimate, peaceful, happy and without dissent.

All this changed when Gurinder made his first visit to the UK, and when Mrs Wood had booked the large Birmingham Convention Center in order to accommodate what had by then, under the guruship of Charan Singh, as well as mass Indian immigration, become a large sangat.

We sewadars positioned at the door of the VIP entrance were in awe expecting that another Charan Singh, whose bearing was that of emperor of emperors, who bathed in divine light, whose aura was of sanctified purity and spiritual radiance, instead witnessed the entry of an angry young man in a turban, boiling with rage, accompanied by a hired security made up of East London gangster types of the kind seen in Guy Ritchie's movie "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels."
 
Gurinder glared past our Radha Soamis and into the main hall leaving behind a shocked air of surprise and disappointment.
 
The word quickly spread that he was furious with Mrs Wood for the expense of the venue. Mrs Wood was quickly replaced by a family relation of Gurinders who may or may not have been very familiar with the English language and who confined himself to the Indian group. It is said that he did give a few satsangs in Punjabi to them.
 
From then the British sangat was butchered and by the time of the purchase of Haynes Park and the changeover of once loving sewadars to a sort of unkind Stasi rule, western satsangis were detaching themselves  from RSSB in droves.
 
A political shift to republican thinking about Northern Ireland saw its very capable secretary fired and all power moved far away to Dublin down in the Irish Republic; a long journey to satsang. As it happened however all the western satsangis in northern Ireland, disciples of Charan Singh, no doubt sharing a feeling of many around the world for westerners that the behaviour of Gurinder and his lack of any of the qualities of mastership including his allergy to giving satsang were intolerable, abandoned the Radha Soami Satsang Beas anyway.
 
Mrs Wood passed away at 100 years of age in 2023.
 
As stated in the beginning of this piece Mrs Flora Wood was asked by the Dera in 2005 to write a postscript to her book In 'Search Of The Way.' It can only be surmised that the reason for the Dera's request for this further addition to the text was that she would note in her postscript the new incumbency of Gurinder Singh at the Dera.
 
However, Mrs Wood did no such thing, she did not even mention Gurinder's succession or anything about him. One can only surmise that this very learned and old satsangi saw the successorship in a different light than the general conclusion.
 
It is one of those fantasies of a Dera Baba Jaimal Singh cut off from the larger Sant Mat world outside its gates that a master will always appoint a perfect successor, what used to be called 'Dera gossips.' In the reality of history this is not always the case.
 
Given the vast size of a possibly multi-billion dollar world-wide institution like RSSB with all its housing dependents and even old sewadar pensioners and huge numbers of Satsangars and other properties (particularly all across India) the last Master cannot just throw in the turban and say "OK, there is no worthy successor, we are closing down the RSSB tomorrow!"
 
No, it is just then allowed to rot at the head, true seekers are no longer drawn to it, or leave it when they find it is no longer true and it deteriorated into another religion. That is the kindest way to go about it, a gradual shutdown.

 
All these years later the surviving satsangis of Charan Singh are still in a daze at what happened and have had no explanation from expert sources. There is an unhealed wound in many hearts, there are disciples of Charan Singh who lost their faith in the confusion some of whom want to find the way back to the path. 
 
Today the RSSB to any outsider seems like some closed cult, hidden in plain sight from the world. To the spiritually minded internet seekers it is a black hole out of which no Bani comes. Anyone who goes to YouTube and looks up videos of Gurinder might be forgiven in thinking he is an apparatchick or politician of the Bhrata Janata Party or some sort of Raja.
 
He is ever seen surrounded by a posse of police officers or army men as he arrives in his private helicopter or jet somewhere for some reason. There is no teaching that an enquiring mind can grasp from this output, no satsangs of his to listen to (some say he does not give satsang).
 
Is Gurinder Singh a perfect master? Is there something that numbers of people have missed? Or is he simply the manager of a large institution playing it by ear? Many would like to know.




The article comes from the The Church of the Churchless  June 2024


The blogger Robert Searle of this site had a close connection with Radhasoami Satsang Beas notably in the 1980s. When he first saw a small photo of Gurinder Singh as the successor of the previous Master Maharaj Charan Singh he instantly knew he was not a perfect guru. However, he did take intiation in May 1993 into Shabd Yoga. He also attended the huge meetings in Birmingham where he saw Gurinder Singh.  He also knew Mrs Wood with whom he had a number of conversations. 
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Reviving the Ancient Polymath Spirit to Meet Modern Challenges We can embrace interdisciplinary learning for innovative problem-solving. Posted January 16, 2025 | Reviewed by Gary Drevitch

January 18, 2025, 6:48 am
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by  Nigel R. Bairstow Ph.D.
Disconnection Dynamics
Psychology Today



Key points

  • Ancient Arab polymaths excelled by integrating diverse knowledge for lasting innovations.
  • Modern challenges demand interdisciplinary approaches to foster creativity and adaptability.
  • Lifelong learning and breaking silos enable holistic solutions for complex global problems.

There was a time when technology flowed from east to west; this was the golden age of the ancient Arab world, when knowledge flourished and scholars were not confined by the boundaries of single disciplines. These intellectual giants mastered and pionered the fields of science, arts, engineering, and astrology, embodying a spirit of versatility and curiosity that still resonates today. Luminaries such as Al-Farabi, the "Second Teacher" after Aristotle; Ibn Sina (Avicenna), a giant in medicine and philosophy; and Al-Khwarizmi, the father of algebra, demonstrated the immense value of cultivating multifaceted skills. They remind us also of later Renaissance polymaths like Leonardo da Vinci, whose work also spanned diverse fields.

This legacy prompts a thought-provoking question for our era: Could embracing a more holistic approach to education and problem-solving help us address today’s complex challenges? The lives and achievements of these ancient polymaths suggest that the answer is an overwhelming yes.

The Lasting Achievement of Arab Polymaths

During the golden age of the Arab world, roughly spanning the 8th to the 13th centuries, scholars gathered in stimulating intellectual centers such as Baghdad’s House of Wisdom. Here, knowledge from Greek, Indian, Persian, and Chinese civilisations was translated, studied, and expanded upon. These scholars did not view knowledge as silos of disciplines but as a unified web of understanding. For example, Ibn Sina combined his breakthrough knowledge of medicine, philosophy, and ethics to write his classic, The Canon of Medicine, a text that influenced medical practice for centuries to come. Similarly, Al-Khwarizmi’s pioneering work in algebra was deeply connected with his studies in astronomy and geography. Their ability to connect divergent fields of knowledge led to innovations such as the development of algorithms, advancements in surgical techniques, and architectural masterpieces like the Alhambra.These polymaths excelled because they embraced knowledge in its entirety. They were able to see the connectivity of ideas and used this understanding to solve complex problems and create systems that endure to this day.

The Case for Modern Polymaths

In our modern world that often prioritises specialisation, the polymathic approach may seem outdated. Yet many of today’s global challenges—climate change, pandemics, technological ethics, and social inequality—are inherently interdisciplinary. They cannot be solved by expertise in a single domain alone.

A holistic approach to learning and problem-solving fosters innovative thinking. Polymaths are often able to draw connections that others might miss. For example, combining insights from ecology and urban planning can lead to urban architectural designs that embrace sustainability while integrating artificial intelligence with sociology and ethics that can help address biases in technology.

Adaptability is another crucial advantage of this approach. In a fast-moving world, professionals who possess a broad skill base are much better equipped to navigate uncertainties and seize opportunities. Their versatility allows them to make meaningful contributions in multiple contexts and adapt their expertise to new challenges.

Additionally, polymaths often act as bridges between specialists, facilitating communication and collaboration across disciplines. Also, they promote a deeper understanding of interconnected problems.

Adopting the spirit of the polymath begins with how we change our approach to education and professional development. We find today that our educational systems push individuals to specialise early, but there is immense value in fostering a balance between breadth and depth.

Multifaceted education is a key starting point. Encouraging students to explore diverse subjects will help foster creativity and critical thinking, qualities essential for innovation. Universities and institutions could benefit greatly from creating interdisciplinary programs that blend sciences, arts, and humanities. Of equal importance is cultivating a mindset of lifelong learning. The ancient Arab scholars pursued knowledge for its own sake, driven by curiosity and a passion for discovery. This attitude is as relevant today as it was then. Embracing continuous learning and remaining open to new fields can lead to surprising insights and solutions.


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